Improvement in lifting-jacks



Patented Nov. 14,1871.

um MMA www 1 liz UNITED WILLIAM L. RAYMENT, OF UNION CITY, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND RALPH A. DAY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN LIFTINe-JACKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. 121,002, dated November I4, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. RAYMENT, of Union Oity,'in the county of Branch and State of Michigan, have invented certain Improvements in Lifting Jacks for Raising Railway Tracks, &c., of which the following is a speciiication:

My invention relates to the combination with aratcheted lifting-bar ofa pendulous self-engaging lifting-pawl, hand-l ever, and retaining springpawl, to be disengaged by foot-pressure, the object being to combine, in a cheap, ready, and effective manner, simple and few means to produce the following results: With a short lever a great development of power, applied at a point almost directly over the load 5 easy application for the main purpose designed, of lifting railway track 5 and easy and quick manipulation by the operator without fatiguing stooping.

My invention is embodied in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure lis a perspectix'e view. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section.

A A are two standards, constituting, with the wooden platform B, a frame to which the operating parts are mainly attached, and in which they are guided. These standards may be made of wrought, cast, or malleable cast-iron, and to strengthen them and maintain stability it is best to provide them with 'iiaring leg-braces a, so as to form, with the foot-flanges at f, four bearingpoints, at which they may be bolted to the'wooden platform B. D is the lifting-bar, workin g freely up and down between the standards, one edge of said bar having' ratchet-teeth formed on it; and the lower end is provided with a projecting foot, i, to insert under the rails or other thing to be lifted. E is the hand-lever, having its fulcrum-pivot at e, through the heads of the standards, between which it vibrates, and having just sufficient projection beyond to hook into a slot in the lifting-paw] bar, which I will now proceed to describe. F is the pendulous lifting-pawl, consisting of a fiat vertical portion, h, provided with a slot, s, as aforesaid, to receive the lever-head, and having a stout spur projection at its lower end to engage with the ratchet teeth of the lifting-bar D. This pawl-bar is bent above the notch to form a handle, H, as shown, by which the pawl may be thrown out of gear, and also to serve as an overbalance to keep the spur closely pressed against the ratchet. The handle portion should have a side offset, so as not to interfere with the working of the lever;

and it is best to round the upper edge of the slot properly to correspond with a hollow indentation in the lever-head, so as to make a joint contact to suit the vibration. The lever might be pivoted to the pawl-bar; but as that mode would necessarily occupy more space between the standards and lifting-bar, it would not, for obvious reasons, be so desirable as when the bare thickness of the pawl alone intervened, with necessary freedom for vibration added. G is the retaining foot-pawl, to hold up the load, pivoted at the angle of the bend to bearings b secured to the platform B, and provided with a spring, n, under the foot-extension g, to keep the point firmly engaged with the ratchet. The lifting-bar D is stayed above against the lifting-pawl by a roller, R, pivoted between ears r on the standards, or, if desired, by a simple cross-bar, and it is guided at its foot by shoulders acting against the edges of the standards on one side and by a check-pin on the other side, or in any other suitable way; and for lifting track a socket should be made in the platform to receive the foot i of the lifting-bar.

The operation for track-lifting is as follows: The lifting-bar being dropped down, the projecting part of the platform at B is inserted under the rail until the foot of the lifting-bar overlaps it. The operator then, by alternately elevating and depressing the lever E, thus causing the pawls to engage successively with the ratchetteeth of the lifting-bar, (in a manner too well known to need further description,) raises the track up to grade, and when it is secured he disengages the lifting-pawl by raising its handle H, then pressing his foot on the treadle-arm g he disengages the retaining-pawl, and the lifting bar drops tor-the bottom of the platformsocket, ready for use in a new place.

My arrangement of the parts renders the machine strong, with simple and cheap oonstruetweenlsuitable standards A a and on a proper tion, transmits great power at the most i'avoraplatform, B, upon which said standards and conble point, and is manipulated readily. neoted operating devices are mounted, substan- I claim as my inventiontially as and for the purposes set forth. The ratchet lifting-bar D, in combination with WILLIAM L. RAYMENT. the pendulous lifting-pawl bar p H, retaining.;`- Witnesses: foot operating spring-paw] G g, and hand-lever RALPH A. DAY, E, the whole secured to operate properly be- OTTO L. JOHNSON. (79) 

